I need to find something in the next couple of months. I feel like buying from an individual is probably the most cost effective but also risky as you have no idea how legit they are.

I hate buying from dealers and buying any used car feels like a crapshoot...basically buying someone else's problem. Soooo, what steps do you take to give yourself the best odds of finding a used vehicle that will give you the least amount of trouble?

Do you favor dealerships, a place like Carvana, Hertz (or other rental places)...etc?

What kind of car are you looking for? That will make a big difference. Buying from an individual will be risky if having to weed through the facebook marketplace posts. At least a dealer you know it was traded in and was looked over by their mechanic beforehand. And their reputation is somewhat in play. Private party you're going to purchase an inspection on every car you're interested in.

Smaller truck or mid size SUV. is what we are looking at. Depends on what we find. If I can find a Tacoma, Colorado, etc for my son, that's fine...if not, he'll get my wife's SUV and we'll get her another mid sized SUV.

Checking for rust and head gasket leak would be the biggest ones if you don't want to pay for an inspection.

As said, if buying from a private party or some rat hole independent used car dealer on the bad side of town, get an inspection.

If buying from a legit dealership with a good reputation, you can buy with more confidence. If your budget will allow for it, buying certified used or investing in a good used warranty will provide peace of mind.

I would never buy from Hertz or one of these rental car company used vehicle outfits. They're usually crazy high mileage and you can't ever be sure that they weren't completely ragged out as rentals. Look at CarFax reports on vehicles found on used lots. I just spec'd out some compact SUVs for my daughter and found a bunch at good price points only to see they were former rentals. With anything, you want to see evidence of all the routine maintenance being done. If there's no record of regular oil changes (for example), it could mean someone was doing them in their driveway instead of at the dealer or their neighborhood quick lube...or it could mean they weren't done.

To your question, I favor dealerships that I know and trust vs. Carvana, Carmax, Bob's Motors, etc. Can I get a better deal buying from an independent seller? Maybe. But I'm just enough risk averse that I'll instead buy a late model from a good dealer and pay a small premium.

Im is same boat...but thinking of a used Nissan Titan vs Frontier with there powertrain warranty and will plan for a certified vehicle

I just bought a used vehicle from a dealership here in Dallas. I did my homework and looked for about two months before pulling the trigger in December. Even though this dealership is known for being "trustworthy", and the vehicle had solid service records going back to the original owner, I still took it to my mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection. Most mechanics will charge $100 to $150 for this (at least here in my area), and I think this is a small price to pay for peace of mind, but that is just me. In fact, this is one of the first questions I ask right after I test-drive a car (does the dealership allow PPIs).

I had narrowed my choices to four vehicles, and two of the dealers said they did not allow PPIs, so I said thanks, but no thanks. When I asked the dealership that I bought the car from if they allowed PPIs, the salesman said yes, and I will have it gassed up for you to pick up when you stop by. That made me feel way more relaxed about buying the car because it told me loud and clear that this dealership had nothing to hide, at least in my mind. Now, I 'm not saying that the other dealerships were shady, but I don't understand why they would balk on allowing a customer to take their car to a mechanic of the customer's choice. Maybe some other TexAgs users who are in the car business can explain why a dealership would not allow a PPI on a used vehicle. I'd be interested in knowing.

Anyway, as others have said, do your homework, look at the CarFax and service records, and get a PPI. Maybe I'm just weird, but I also eliminated any car that didn't have at least two sets of keys. Something my dad told me a long time ago was that if the previous owner couldn't keep up with their keys, who's to say that they could keep up with their oil changes! Ha! Take that for what it's worth.

What about for actually completing the transaction?

A bill of sale signed by buyer and seller, and then a form from the state applying for title? Anything else you need?

https://www.txdmv.gov/sites/default/files/form_files/130-U.pdf

We bought from Hertz back in 2020 and it was the best buying experience ever. This board taught me to never buy a rental so it was hard to even consider. They had the lowest price by far and no negotiations, which I guess isn't great but they were 8k lower in price than any other place. We got a 2019 Yukon XL in Jan of 2020 for $38k with 40k miles and fully loaded 4wd. Trying not to sell it for almost a 20k profit that year was TOUGH

In your situation I would put the word out to all my friends and family that I'm gonna be buying this kind of car in a couple of months and would appreciate any leads on them selling such a car. It's worth a lot to know who owned and took care of the car and that they were reasonable people. Carfax also seems worth the money and they have a good website for used cars. Many odometers are getting rolled back somehow. But tap into your personal network for the best quality at a fair price. Otherwise trust your gut if you think they're lying to you don't let them explain away every little strange noise or problem with the car.

PPI from a solid shop is the way.

Personally I've seen the worst of CarFax. They can only "scrape" info that's reported. And not everyone reports truthful information.

I hold no trust/integrity in CarFax. Not even the number of owners is 100% guaranteed to be correct. My uncle would take ownership of a car and never register it, having a buyer take title directly from the person my uncle bought the car from without traceability. Some of those deals he would have the car for a couple of months and put a couple hundred miles on. And yes, he was stupid for doing it but he did anyways.

Purchase from an elderly person.

I haven't bought a brand new car in 25 years but have bought about 5-6 used vehicles. I tend to keep cars for a long time.

So far all my used cars have been successes, with one requiring about $1000 in service (water pump and all new fluids) soon after purchase. All were purchased through reputable new car dealers and all but one (the one that needed the water pump) had less than 60K miles.

1. Check both Carfax and Autochek services for the history. Yes, they aren't perfect and things can be missing, but you can eliminate a lot of trash and see red flags. You can also see where the car spent its service life.
2. Buy from dealers with a good reputation.
3. Check for leaks and rust underneath and under the hood.
4. If you can get certified pre-owned with a warranty without paining a ton more, do that.
5. Be prepared to drive some distance. I live in the Houston area and have bought a car in Austin and Dallas to get the right one for the right price.
6. Avoid cars whose service life was spent in the salt belt (the north) to avoid rust and corrosion.
7. Rental cars- yes they could have been abused, but if the deal is good enough and you have a good extended warranty, don't dismiss out of hand. I bought a former rental as a beater for my step son with about 80K miles on it and it was fine. Not trouble free, but the issues weren't because it was a rental.
8. I have never had a car inspected by a mechanic, mainly because it's a massive inconvenience. However, it is a good idea especially if buying from and individual or a less reputable dealer

I start with choosing a Toyota/Lexus first...

AggieDruggist89 said:

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I start with choosing a Toyota/Lexus first...

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Pre-2022 unless you're into grenaded engines

Ag for Life said:

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AggieDruggist89 said:

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I start with choosing a Toyota/Lexus first...

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Pre-2022 unless you're into grenaded engines

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Agreed.

But I do believe Toyota will get it worked out soon.

I despise this process.

Not finding much. Most of what I am finding is well over 60k miles, most approaching 100k, which isn't a huge deal in that my son's truck has 170,000 miles on it but I'm finding things like a 2017 Mazda CX-9 for $20,000 but has 98,800 miles on it which means it will need new belts within months, so basically another $1,000+

Aldo the Apache said:

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Independent third party inspection, if the seller (dealer or PP) won't agree to a TPI, move on.

Unless you have enough experience picking out pain points/potential red flag mechanical issues on the specific car you're looking for, you're better off having an expert tell you.

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I agree with this overall, but sometimes the logistics can be a bit cumbersome. Sometimes it takes my independent mechanic a week to get back to me because of their workload, but I trust them.

Any best practices of just how to work through this process?

Going through this as well helping my daughter look for a crossover SUV in the $10-12K market. LOTS of rebuilt titles and small dealerships advertising on Marketplace, AutoTrader, and CarGurus.

Set price line and get pre approved at the bank/credit union.
Find some in that range and play dumb at the dealership.
Argue bottom line price.
Agree when the price gets to the right point and cut the wizard behind the curtain's legs out from under him.